Can I take my son out of one school before putting him in another?

[Whatsthatspookynoise]

I'm 7 months pregnant and we have just moved house. The school run is an absolute nightmare now. Train and then a bus. Both are packed solid in the mornings, even if I leave way earlier than usual. I am really struggling with depression at the moment and the school run seems to be a severe trigger for it. I absolutely cannot cope with it at all. I am in a lot of pain and struggle to walk. I drop my son off and go to my mum's as she lives near his current school and I just break down and cry all day until I collect him and go back to my house to start it all again the next day. I'm looking into schools closer, but I'm not going to lie, due to being so down I'm finding it hard to figure out how to change schools on the websites. It's very confusing, I get overwhelmed and give up and cry some more. I was wondering if I could take him out of his current school and do a bit of homeschooling until he gets accepted for a place in a closer school. (He's been desperate to leave his current school for a long time as it's not working for him and I wanted to homeschool him a couple of months ago, but I was too ill with hyperemesis).

I'm not sure how to do this, but taking him on that journey is just not an option for me right now.

Are you in England or Scotland? If so, phone the education authority/council and ask if there are places in the school you want.

Who did you move house with? Is there a DH/DP on the scene? Could they help with the school run? If your Mum doesnt work could she bring him home for you? I think if your depression is so bad you cry all day then you may bit be in the best place to homeschool at the moment.

After our last house move both my DDs were not in school for several weeks.

Look at your local council website, it will explain in year applications. I had to apply through the council. One was offered a place straight away, but I had to go to appeal for my elder DD.

You need to apply for a new school place before you do anything else. If you can’t work that out online, ask his Dad, or your mum, or a friends to help. Or ring the council’s education dept and ask.

Will anyone help with the school run? Where is his Dad?

You need to do form filling and messing around to homeschool OP. I do feel for you really....what you need is a bit of support with this. Have you not got a partner?

You could start the process off easily by phoning the school you want your son to attend...one step at a time....phone them and then come back here and tell us what they say.

Then we'll talk you through the next bit.

Go to the school you want your dc to attend and they can help you/ direct you to do what you need to do.

I appreciate that driving a distance (how long does it take??) isn't good, especially when expecting but it seems a bit over the top to be collapsing in tears at your mums. Is there anything else going on? Can your partner or mum help?

Ring the local authority , ask which schools -if any- have a vacancy in the right school year group and submit an In Year application. How old is your ds? If year 2 or below you may find they are already at capacity with class limits of 30. If you cannot do this could your dp or dm?

@Aroundtheworldin80moves Thanks for the reply. How did you take them out of school? Did you have to say you were homeschooling or did you just take them out of their school?

Thank you for the replies everyone. His Dad is not my current partner, but both are working at those times. I don't drive as I live in London and always thought commuting everywhere was easy UNTIL I turned about 6 months pregnant! It is a bit much crying all day, but unfortunately I don't cope well with being hormonal. I think I am a bit embarrassed to ask for help, which is why I'm still in this situation. I'll ask my mum tomorrow to help me with it.

You need to inform his present school in writing that you are home schooling from X date.

Do you know which school you want him to go to? If you do, then ring them, or go in person, and ask them what you have to do and whether they have any spaces in the relevant year group.
If you don't know about local schools then you'll need to find out.
You ring them and ask for a tour, so you can have a look with your DS and get a feel for a few different schools.Ask around, this is something people always have views on. You can ask on here too about specific schools.
If you want to go for HE for your son because its in his best interest and you're able to do it, that's fine. Its not so great if it's for your convenience. And being so pregnant isn't the best time to start - how will you cope with educating him and looking after a new baby?

OP, you sound very anxious. Have you spoken to your GP?

I had a similar spell about 18 months ago, when DS was in Playgroup and DD was a baby. I would just dread the couple of hours from them waking until it was time to leave the house, then be extremely anxious on the drive to Playgroup, then be anxious about picking him up, and then kind of vaguely relax once we were home for the day.

I went to the GP because it was getting to the point where I couldn't function, and they prescribed anti-anxiety medication. It has made a huge difference.

Obviously you may be somewhat limited in terms of what you can take while you're pregnant, but there will be something.

It can be a bit bumpy for a couple of weeks after starting new meds, so go as soon as you can. Is there any way your partner, your DS' dad and your mum could make a rota to help in the meantime? Would those who work be able to use annual leave to be allowed to go in a couple of hours late twice a week or something, just for a few weeks while you get a rest?